Brazilian diplomat Roberto Carvalho de Azevedo has won the race to become the new director-general of the World Trade Organization (WTO).

The WTO is expected to make an official announcement Wednesday, but Brazil's Foreign Ministry on Tuesday confirmed Azevedo's victory in the election, taking at least 93 votes, more than the 80 votes necessary to win.

Azevedo will take over as the WTO chief on Sept. 1, replacing Pascal Lamy, who is stepping down after two consecutive terms. Azevedo will serve a four-year term and can be re-elected.

The first Latin American elected to the WTO directorship, Azevedo had the support of the BRICS bloc of emerging economies and Portuguese-speaking countries, as well as countries in Latin America, Asia and Africa.

While his rival for the job, former Mexican Trade Minister Herminio Blanco, had the backing of the United States, the European Union (EU) and several other countries.

Azevedo, 55, was born in Salvador, Bahia state, and graduated from the Brasilia University. He joined the Foreign Ministry in 1983 and represented Brazil in the World Intellectual Property Organization, the United Nations Council for Trade and Development and the International Telecommunication Union.

He also served at the Brazilian embassies in Washington (1988-1991) and Montevideo (1992-1994), as well as at his country's UN mission in Geneva (1997-2001).

He has served as Brazil's permanent representative to the WTO since 2008 and was his country's chief negotiator in the Doha Development Round. He also worked in Brazil's litigations against the United States over cotton subsidies and against the EU over sugar subsidies.

The Brazilian diplomat has a reputation for always seeking consensus, a necessary ability at the WTO, where the needs and opinions of 159 members have to be taken into consideration.

Azevedo said during his campaign that if elected, he would focus on resuming the long-stalled Doha Round and strengthening multilateralism in the global trade body. Endi

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